Broadcaster Adam Hart-Davis urges competition organisers to make sure that inventors don’t lose out on IP rights

Published: 28 January 2008
By: Peter Prowse

Writer and broadcaster Adam Hart-Davis has highlighted a little-understood risk for PR and marketing companies who organise invention competitions, such as the Ideal Home Show ‘Innovation Nation’.

When Seventy Seven PR recruited TV’s ‘face of technology’ to celebrate 100 years of the Ideal Home Show and encourage budding inventors to submit their ideas via the show’s website, his first concern was that the competition shouldn’t jeopardise contestants’ chances of getting their ideas patented. ‘If all these people publish their ideas,’ he advised the PR company, ‘they will be unable to get patents. I would not want brilliant inventors to lose out.’

Under intellectual property laws, publishing details of an invention – for example, by publicising it in a competition – can constitute ‘disclosure’. Any invention that has previously been disclosed is most unlikely to be granted a patent.

Seventy Seven PR shared Adam’s concerns and sought advice from a patent attorney, Matt Dixon, an IP (intellectual property) specialist and spokesman for CIPA. Matt advised the organisers on what to include on the competition website and other promotional material. As a result, advice to contestants recommends that any inventors who think their invention might have commercial potential should get patent advice – and probably apply for a patent – before the competition results are announced.

Seventy Seven PR account director Michelle Saxby welcomed the input from Adam Hart-Davis and CIPA. ‘When we started to organise the competition we realised there would be an issue with IP rights and wanted to be sure we were giving the correct advice to people entering. The specific advice we got from Adam Hart-Davis and Matt Dixon helped us to quickly understand the issues and ensure the competition rules were right.’

‘The position regarding ‘disclosure’ of an invention can be a bit tricky for the non-specialist,’ said Matt Dixon. ‘Organisers of invention or product design competitions could find that they are jeopardising potential patent rights if the inventions are publicised before patent applications have been filed. It’s an area of the law that’s not generally well understood. We would urge all PR companies or other organisers of similar competitions to contact CIPA before they finalise the competition rules. Our guidelines can help ensure that inventors don’t throw away their chances of getting a patent for the sake of trophy.’

For further information, contact:
Nicholas Pope  Tel: 020 7405 9450
Peter Prowse  Tel: 01372 271234, mobile: 07973 213039
Ted Blake   Tel: 020 7405 9450, or
Matt Dixon   Tel: 020 7645 8250